Injuries to the hand, wrist and/or forearms (e.g. carpal tunnel syndrome, surgically repaired wrists and the like) typically require prolonged periods of physical therapy and rehabilitation in an attempt to fully recover and reclaim full strength and improved range of motion to the injured muscles, tendons and ligaments in the affected areas. There is currently a great need for a handheld hand, wrist and forearm rehabilitative device that facilitates a user's ability to recover full strength and full range of motion to the injured region. There is also a great need for handheld exercising device that facilitates the strengthening and the full range of motion in the hands, wrists and forearms for users who exercise with the device, enabling users to deliver more strength and increased range of motion in athletic activities that require such capabilities, including, but not limited to golf and tennis.
Numerous hand, wrist and forearm exercising and rehabilitating devices are provided in the prior art. A few examples of such devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,933 issued to Cedro; U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,813 issued to Macdonald; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,309 issued to Fox. Despite the great variety of exercising and rehabilitative devices available there remains a need for a handheld device capable of providing users with a means of strengthening the muscles, ligaments and tendons of an injured wrist, hand or forearm with the support of the healthy wrist, hand or forearm, while simultaneously improving the full range of motion.
Additionally, there remains a need for a handheld device that will shorten the duration of rehabilitation time typically required for rehabilitating an injured hand, wrist and/or forearm, and enable the user to substantially regain full strength and range of motion to the injured region. There is also a need for an exercise device the will enable a user to strengthen and build muscles, as well increase the full range of motion for the user's hands, wrists and/or forearms by engaging in exercising protocols that use the handheld device.
None of the prior art devices which applicants are aware of describes a handheld hand, wrist and/or forearm exercising, strengthening and rehabing device as disclosed and claimed herein.